Random MOTV: Muppet Rhapsody & Young Fresh Prince
The random Gods of funny grace us with two viral masterpieces in one day. First is The Muppets take on the Queen classic "Bohemian Rhapsody," and then from last night's episode of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, Fallon does a sublime Neil Young covering "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." Both are made of WIN.The

Ear on TV: Week of 11.23.09: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
You can forgive the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame a bit of fuzzy math in calling this their 25th anniversary. First and foremost, any excuse to put on a star-studded concert event like this is going to be accepted. (Just is.) Secondly, they're really splitting th

Spectacle: Elvis Costello With - Season 1 on DVD
One of the surprise debuts of last year had to be Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..., a talk show featuring Costello pulling off the rare triple threat: host, performer and bandleader. Equal parts interview and jam session, the Sundance series relies upon

Glee "Ballads": The Song Says It All
Up to now, Glee has sort of tip-toed around being a musical, keeping the songs primarily performance-based, with lyrical ties not overtly specific to the moment. "Ballads" is the first episode that really can't be called anything but a musical, with every song having overt literal meaning to the scen

Now Downloading: New Releases 11.17.09
We're headlong into gift-giving season, so feel free to make your year-end list, as it's no mans land as far as quality releases. That being said, there are a couple albums that provide more than stocking fodder. The Led Zep/Queens of the Stone Age/Foo Fighters supergroup Them Crooked Vultures doesn't disappoint, and Macca's got a live album that aims to please. Elsewhere, it's mostly meh in new releases -- tis the season for rei